If it ever happens, it promises to be a clash of the 21st century titans.
So where better for social media tycoons Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s threatened $1billion cage fight to take place than the Colosseum in Rome?
Apparently casting himself as a latter-day Maximus from the 2000 epic movie Gladiator, Musk – the Tesla owner and boss of X, formerly Twitter – yesterday hinted that the historic amphitheatre would host the much-anticipated clash.
After teasing followers by tweeting “Gladiator” with two sword emojis, Musk said he had spoken to Italy’s minister of culture and that they had agreed “an epic location” for his confrontation with Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook.
“Everything in camera frame will be ancient Rome, so nothing modern at all,” he added, saying the purported showdown – for which a date has yet to be agreed – would be live-streamed on both X and Meta.
Musk – who dropped further hints by sharing light-hearted Latin quotes with his followers – insisted: “Everything done will pay respect to the past and present of Italy.”
But any expectations that South African-born Musk would be following in the footsteps of Russell Crowe and seeking to “have my vengeance” inside the iconic 1,950-yearold Colosseum were swiftly dashed.
Responding to the 52-year-old billionaire’s take on their “long, friendly” conversation, Italian culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano confirmed that what he described as the “major reenactment” would take place – but not necessarily in Rome.
The minister added: “There will be a huge donation to two important Italian paediatric hospitals for the upgrading of facilities and scientific research to fight diseases.”
The logistics of using one of the seven wonders of the world may have proved too much of a hurdle – in its heyday, the Colosseum could hold 50,000 but today there is seating for only a few hundred.
Film buffs pointed out that the showdown in Gladiator was filmed at a replica built in Malta. Musk threw down the gauntlet in June by challenging 39-year-old Zuckerberg to a cage fight.
Zuckerberg has said he was “not holding my breath” about the clash taking place on the suggested date of August 26.